09/01/2026
PrePass Stance is Critical
Back in the day it was:
“Keep your chest up and sink into your knees!”
This wasn’t a very active or functional position (less balance or leverage), but most QBs got away with it because the style of QB play was typically less athletically demanding (less RPO, QB runs, dual threat requirements etc).
Throwing mechanics were also much more distal and linear (point the foot, stride, push the body) so there was less rotary contribution required from the big muscles of the hips and glutes, with less centrifugal force and torque being generated.
For any QBs looking to move as efficiently and athletically as possible with optimal pocket movement and compact, rotary throwing performance, the prepass stance is critical.
Being too upright and ‘quad-biased’ (knees pushed forward over the toes) minimizes the functional loading and recruitment of the hip joints and associated muscles.
This position is referred to as ‘shallow’, meaning the athlete doesn’t have much depth from front to back, and it’s easy to see that there is an absence of leverage.
We know this instinctively from other positions (imagine a linebacker initiating contact in this upright, shallow stance).
We also know it from other activities, like performing squats, deadlifts, etc where again the upright, shallow position is clearly not a position of functional strength.
In this video QB Nolan Watrin is setting up to throw in a slightly shallow prepass position. When I gently push on his chest he has no ability to resist and immediately falls backwards.
Nolan does an excellent job of adjusting to ‘get into his hips’ and finds a good functional position before initiating the throw.
